The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as St Mary's Cathedral or Wrexham Cathedral, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the

Bishop of Wrexham The Bishop of Wrexham is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham in the Province of Cardiff in Wales. The diocese covers an area of and consists of the Welsh historic counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Flintsh ...

, and

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham The Diocese of Wrexham () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. History The diocese ...

(founded in 1987).

History

The cathedral was originally built as a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in 1857. Its architect,

Edward Welby Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father was an architect in the Gothic Revival style, and after his early death in 1 ...

, adopted a 14th-century

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

style. The church replaced an earlier chapel, located in King Street, which by the 1850s was deemed insufficient for the growing congregation, and finance was provided by a local industrialist. Further additions to satisfy a still-growing congregation were made in the mid-20th century, in the form of the cloister and side chapel. The church was designated a

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

in 1898 upon the establishment of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia The Diocese of Menevia () was a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It was one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and was subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff, until it merged with the arch ...

. It was consecrated on 7 November 1907.

The cathedral today

Wrexham Cathedral is now a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Roman Catholic churches completed in 1857 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic cathedrals in Wales Wrexham Grade II listed churches in Wrexham County Borough Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham Grade II listed cathedrals in Wales 1857 establishments in Wales E. W. Pugin church buildings

History

The cathedral today

See also

References

External links